Srinagar, May 20 : In a strong rebuke to escalating war rhetoric, PDP President and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said war is a “zero-sum game” that only brings destruction and civilian casualties.
She called on political leaders to adopt Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s path of dialogue and reconciliation, warning that continued militarism will only deepen the crisis in the region.
In a press conference in Srinagar, Mufti lashed out at warmongers, challenging them to relocate their families to border areas like Tangdar and R S Pora before advocating for conflict.
She dismissed war as meaningless, saying, “It results in nothing but deaths. We have already lost 28 people. This is not a victory; it’s devastation.”
Condemning the branding of dissent as anti-national, Mufti said, “India is a great nation. BJP is not the nation. Asking questions of the BJP government is not anti-national or pro-Pakistan.”
Mehbooba urged the central government to revisit former Prime Minister Vajpayee’s peace-driven approach to Kashmir, emphasizing that dialogue is the only viable path forward.
Recalling the suffering of common people, Mufti said, “Our homes were turned into rubble, our children killed. Milk-drinking infants lost their lives. How much more should people endure?”
She also questioned the government’s contradictory actions, citing the arrest of Prof. Ali Khan. “While our MPs go abroad for diplomacy, professors are arrested at home. Why this hypocrisy?”
Mufti reiterated that the Kashmir issue cannot be solved through force or violence, but only through meaningful engagement between India and Pakistan with the voices of Jammu and Kashmir at the center.(KNS)
